Book Description
Discover the secrets of a naturally pest-proof vegetable garden with Great Garden Companions. Let master gardener Sally Jean Cunningham show you how to keep pests and diseases at bay with her unique companion-gardening system. By planting special combinations of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, you can minimize pest and disease problems and create a high-yielding, beautiful garden!
Customer Reviews:
Love this book.......2007-10-01
Love, love, love this book. I garden nowhere near the same amount, but I am in zone 6 too -- so the advice is spot on for me.
Great reference - great gift.......2007-07-05
I really appreciated the extensive research the author did for each section - she separates the folklore from the things that have been tested and documented, but presents both. I also like the suggestions and options she gives...if you want to follow a pre-designed plan you may, or you can pull together your own combinations that appeal to you or that work better for your situation. I have read my own copy cover to cover many times and have given this book as a gift to several like minded people. The two aspects of her system that really appeal to me are the reduction in weeding and the principle of "no sprays"...I really disklike the idea of putting poison on my food!
This is the book you want.......2007-06-27
Perfect. I've looked at a number of books on companion gardening and this is the one I'd recommend. Friendly, easy to read with nice illustrations and photographs. This is a book written by a woman who loves gardening for people who love gardening.
Great book for the organic home gardener!.......2007-06-06
I read this book from cover to cover. The author's style of writing is conversational and very easy to read. I bought a couple of other organic gardening books but I liked this one the best. Her love of nature and plants really comes across. I understand now how the balance in nature takes care of pests with some planning from us. She shares a lot of really good, easy-to-do tips on how to garden organically. I've implemented many of her ideas in my own garden and can see them working already. Most of all, this book has made me aware of how important the insects and bugs in my garden really are. I recommend this book to anyone who really wants to garden organically.
How does common sense get published?.......2007-05-24
Great Garden Companions may be a suitable book for some, but I found it very disappointing. The book is aimed toward a very general audience--one without an organic gardening, scientific or ecological background--and is consequently dumbed down, brief and incomplete. The title is misleading, and really just seems like an excuse for the author to talk about her own garden (and which plants she likes to put together, seemingly on a whim). It should be marketed as a gardening journal or introduction to organic gardening for kids, if anything.
Hardly any useful information about companion planting is found in this book--what little exists is there without any sort of explanation or reference. Even common information about well-researched companion plants is missing. The book is, instead, about which plants look nice planted together, have been grown together for centuries, or allow you to conveniently pick crops. The author provides detailed information about which plants she likes to group together in her own garden, including planting maps, but never explains why. It is a book littered with old wives' tales and inaccurate and unresearched information, with just a little bit of useful information that is generalized and brief. And then a bunch of other stuff that has nothing to do with companion planting, which may actually prove useful if you've never read a decent gardening book before.
The book itself is rather poorly written and targeted toward the lowest common denominator of gardeners, but the photographs are nice and the author's practical, organic and naturalistic approach are right on. The book stresses ecological balance within the garden, but doesn't include much information outside of the realm of common sense and common knowledge, and I expect more out of a book.
Book Description
Everything you need to know about growing your favorite herbs using safe, natural, all-organic methods!Practical tips and advice on all aspects of successful herb growing.A wealth of great ideas and helpful how-to on using herbs in cooking, crafts, cosmetics, health care, insect repellents, and more.Illustrated herb directory featuring all the most popular herbs-- from aloe to yarrow-- each with complete information on growing, care, harvesting, and uses.
Customer Reviews:
Concise, but useful.......2007-06-09
This is a relatively small book at about 150 pages, but it manages to pack in a lot of information very concisely. It's beautifully illustrated with color photographs and drawings.
The first 2/3 of the book includes general herb gardening background and use of herbs tips: how to choose plants, pick the location, general design principles, planting instructions (including some nice tips on extending the growing season), propagation, harvesting, drying, pests and diseases, etc.
It also includes suggestions for common culinary uses, such as salads, herbal vinegars, flavored oils, teas, jellies, honeys, and breads. These are not an extensive set of recipes, but more like master recipes with some suggestions for how you can mix them up with variations.
The book also includes suggestions and recipes for health and beauty products (again, not an extensive collection). This section includes potpourri, sachets, bouquets, dried arrangements and insect repellents.
The last 1/3 of the book has individual pages on about 50 different herbs. These individual pages tell you a description, how to grow, harvesting instructions, suggested uses, tips, cultivars, and also includes a quick key on the level of care required (using a 4 glove rating system), if it attracts beneficial insects, whether or not it is ornamental, whether or not it can be grown in a container, how much yield you can expect to get and how easy it is to grow.
The back of the book contains a few pages of resources for laboratories, vendors, herb associations and other books or literary resources.
There are lots of charts and sidebars and overall I found this book to be very useful and easy to access. It doesn't have the level of information needed to make this anything other than a quick reference book though.
in love with herbs.......2007-01-25
I adore this book! Wow! It has all the things I wanted!
- it's organic
- it very thorougly covers many herbs in different formats, so you know everything from what bugs they attract or repel, how tall they grow, and what zone they can be grown in
- common uses for them: I discovered many herbs I thought were inedible plants that are indeed herbs
- easy to use tables
I wasn't too hip on all the cosmetic and craft uses - I'd rather eat them, but they're short and may come in handy. I know the rest of the book sure will!
I LOVE THIS BOOK.......2006-08-23
This is a great book for a beginning herb gardener. The first half of the book is a general overview of gardening techniques, designs, and uses for herbs. The second half gives specific information on growing and using many herbs. This has been extraordinarily helpful to me as background and reference for me.
However, it is pretty basic and only covers the most commonly used herbs, so I'm not sure that advanced herb gardeners would get much out of this.
"Must Have" for aspiring herb growers.......2006-07-24
Great resource book. Covers all of the basics in clear, simple instructions.
A complete herbal reference book!.......2006-06-26
I really like this book. It is very easy to follow and has a little bit of everything you need to know packed into the book. I bought it for the outside herb garden design, but I changed my mind. I am trying a kitchen garden, growing the herbs inside in containers. If you are new to herb gardening, this is the perfect book. And in my opinion, it is the only book you will need. I want to use the fragrant herbs for sachet crafts and dry some herbs for cooking. These will be terrific gifts for my DIL because she buys and uses a lot of herbs for cooking and will never have the time to grown them. You will never put this book away. There are so many possibilities of what to do with herbs.
Book Description
This sequel to Carrots Love Tomatoes lists hundreds of herbs and flowers, with information on how their proximity can maximize the health and yield of vegetables, berry bushes, and fruit and nut trees. This edition features a dozen illustrated garden plans. 178,000 copies in print.
Book Description
Transform a messy, tangled garden into a lush, productive retreat with this simple yet thorough handbook. The basics of companion gardening can be easily integrated into one’s gardening style using the nurturing power of Mother Nature and taking fundamental principles into account. Not merely a seasonal occupation or hobby, companion planting is a natural way to restore balance to outdoor spaces. By planting certain plants in close proximity, each helps the others. Easily implemented techniques such as increasing the essential oils and nutrients in plants, conditioning the soil, and attracting helpful insects are discussed, as well as ways to reduce pests and diseases without the use of toxic pesticides.
Customer Reviews:
Delightful.......2005-06-21
This book is a joy-containing not only the facts about the Medieval herbs and plants-but also charming references to the amazing character of Cadfael.
Don't be put off by negative comments-this book's a gem.
Cadfael's pictures.......2002-04-04
This is most useful as a guide to Elis Peters' novels. The index of plants is oriented toward the fictional Cadfael and his uses, rather than to mediaval practice.
The pictures are coffee table book quality.
A must for gardeners who are Brother Cadfael fans, or Cadfael fans who are gardeners, but not a serious work.
Medieval Plants and Brother Cadfael.......2000-08-17
Not only is this gorgeous books with excellent pictures of plants, it shows a deep insight into Brother Cadfael's herbarium and his respect for plants. I loved the excerpts from the many Brother Cadfael books. I would have liked to have seen a bit more on the layout of Brother Cadfael's garden and perhaps some recipes and potions. Still the authors produced a beautiful book at a reasonable price with the pages crammed with in-depth information on herbs.
Misleading Title.......1999-08-26
I believe that this book is much more of a picture book than anything else. Within the text, it describes Brother Cadfeal more than it does his gardens or how he planned them or used them. This book is nicely done but it is not worth the price if you are looking for a comprehensive reference for how to grow and use herbs. Please look somewhere else. There are many out there which hold better information.
It is a wonderful and informitive book on herbs........1999-03-08
This book was very informitive on the uses of herbs for medicines in the Middle Ages. I happen to be a fan of Cadfael and thought the pictures were wonderful. I had been doing a project on medical herbs in the Middle Ages and it was my best resource.
Customer Reviews:
Create Your Own Engelbreit Outdoor Space.......2007-04-27
If you love the plantings and gracious, homey scenes in Mary Engelbreit's cards and art work, then you will love this book. The photos show steppingstones, garden archways, window boxes bursting with flowers, idylic porches and quaint potting sheds. This idea book helps you picture how to transform your outdoor space with the Engelbreit look.
There are some projects telling how to make a birdbath, wind chimes from a sand pail and sand shovels, a planter box, a painted deck chair, a gardening tote, and to make a garden jacket from vintage tablecloths. The instructions are fairly skimpy, but will get you going if you're handy.
The book is a visual feast with the color photos interspersed with her art.
IT SEEMS LIKE A NEW BOOK EVERYTIME I READ IT.......2000-06-17
THIS IS A DELIGHTFUL BOOK. I HAVE GOTTEN GREAT IDEAS TO COPY. I AM USING THESE IDEAS FOR CHURCH AND HOME PROJECTS. I WISH I COULD AFFORD TO BUY ALL OF MARY ENGELBREIT'S BOOKS. THEY BRIGHTEN UP MY DAYS.
Mary Engelbreit does it again!.......1999-07-04
ME has taken her indoor style outdoors. It's an imaginative source for decorating the garden with whimsy. If you are looking for ideas on what to plant and how to keep it alive, this is not the book for you, go directly to Better Homes and Gardens!
An inspiring guide to achieving the ME look outdoors !.......1999-05-15
This book is as wonderful as I had expected it to be ! I am truly inspired to create in my "outdoor rooms" now and I now realize just how much work I have ahead of me as well ! The projects are extremely do-able and will make terrific mother's and father's day gifts as well as welcome additions to my own sad little garden. After doing several of the projects in ME's Children's Companion, I can share that her ideas are easily adapted to your own tastes and needs and you don't need to feel obligated to exactly duplicate her wonderful ideas... they're a fantastic spring board for your own creations.
Nice pictures, lovley words, but not a gardener's helper........1998-08-09
Mary Englebreit has a very definitive look, and the pages of this book are filled with lovely photos that embody her style perfectly. Pictures aside, this book is not a very helpful gardening tool, since the captions do not indicate what types of flowers or plants have been used to make up the great settings pictured. The book's cover states that the reader will be shown how to obtain "the look", but one can't very well do that if no where does it say what flowers are used, can they? Over all, nice to look at, but not a big help .
Product Description
Ever feel like your creativity well has gone dry? This book will help you fill it with practical, scrapliftable ideas for every element on your page. My Creative Companion 2 is the ultimate collection of ideas for everything from the smallest accent to complete layout designs. Packed with colorful illustrations and simple explanations, it will become a constant source of instant inspiration. Sections include: Accents Borders Journaling & Titles Layout Design Photo Mats Odds & Ends My Ideas Inside, you'll find: More than 825 full-color illustrations of innovative accents, borders, photo mats, and journaling and title treatments that can be easily duplicated or customized. Over 135 layout sketches for single and multiple photos you can use today. Quick-and-easy color combination, background and texture ideas. 60 never-before-seen layouts that showcase the sketches' adaptability and flexibility.
Customer Reviews:
great book for scrapbook teachers .......2007-09-10
i teach classes at my local scrap store and since i got this book i have had great success using it at a referance guide for quick layouts. comming up with new original designs every week was becoming some what difficult for me, but now i can just flip through and pick and choose different element and it makes things much easier and my layouts are always unique. there are not many examples of completed layouts (just a few at the end of each chapter) but, i was not bothered by this i bought this book because i was interested in the concepts not other peoples work. now i did not read the first one and i know there were some complaints, but if your looking for a really good book just for a scrapbook design referance i highly suggest this one.
Big disappointment.......2007-08-27
I was so excited to get this as I love Becky Higgins' work, but I was really disappointed. It is still Becky's work but it is only sketches, no actual examples, most of the sketches are black and white. I ended up selling mine on Ebay.
Great Idea Book - When You Just Want Ideas.......2007-05-02
Most scrapbooking idea books are really just a collection of pretty layouts done by professional designers - and while they are inspiring, I don't find them all that adaptable to anything I'm actually working on. This book is different - while it does have some layouts done by frequent contributers to Creating Keepsakes magazine, it is mostly a collection of thumbnail sketches and simple material lists for the most common scrapbooking elements - accents, borders, titles and journalling, layout design, and photo mats.
This was the idea book, I have been looking for, but didn't know existed. It is perfect for when you are sitting in front of a half-finished layout and you just need a little help coming up with something special to finish it off or bring it together. I find this book far more useful than rummaging through old magazines hoping to be inspired by something. I would recommend this book to intermediate to advanced scrapbookers who are looking for a book to help them be more creative in their scrapbooking. I would not recommend this book to beginners looking for instruction on how to get started in scrapbooking, or not familiar with basic scrapbooking materials and techniques. This book does not provide any instruction - I would recommend the Idiot's Guide to Scrapbooking or the Joy of Scrapbooking for that.
I'm Surprised..........2007-03-06
I've read the other 2 reviews of this book, and I have to say that I am rather surprised by the very negative feedback. Granted, I did not purchase the first version of "My Creative Companion," but I have to say that I really like this book. Yes, it is filled with mostly computer generated sketches, but it is broken up into 6 very organized tabbed sections. The layout section alone was worth the money to me. Many times when I look in the magazines, I get caught up in all the beautiful embellishments or other aspects of other people's layouts. Because of this, I have a difficult time adapting layout designs to my needs. This book is a great tool to push me along in my own creative process. No, I will not be "scraplifting" from this book. But I think the whole point of this book is to encouage people to use their own creative energies, not just simply copy what others have already done.
I, for one, am extremely happy with this book and would recommend it to anyone who, like me, just needs a little help to jumpstart the creative process.
not much good to say.......2007-02-26
I was so excited to be getting this and then I was so let down once I had it. I really wish I had spent the money on scrapbook supplies (paper, stickers, etc) and skipped this one. I was looking for detailed ideas and examples. These are like looking at an artist's first rough drafts...and I do mean rough. Not at all what I expected given this company's track record for past items purchased by me.
Book Description
In association with Jackson & Perkins, Rose Companions is the first book devoted expressly to the exciting variety of plants that can be grown with roses in the garden. No longer must roses be considered appropriate only for the rose garden. Instead, today's roses offer an impressive array of characteristics that make them ideal plants for many landscape uses, including form, color, and fragrance. And the number of plants that make perfect partners for roses is astounding, including:
- Perennials
- Annuals
- Bulbs
- Shrubs
- Vines
Rose Companions will give gardeners of all levels the information they need to create a beautiful landscape, whether they already have an established garden and want to add roses and other plants to it, or if they are growing roses and want to enhance them with companion plants, or if they are starting from scratch and have always dreamed of a garden lush with flowers-including roses.
Customer Reviews:
A Must for the Rose Gardener's Library.......2005-12-09
The author's rose experience gives the knowledgeable rosarian broader understanding and the novice rich new territory to discover. Roses become assets for gardens rather than specimens separated from the whole. If I had this book when I first began my rose adventures it would have been a constant source of help and inspiration.
good guide to integrating roses.......2005-07-01
This is an excellent guide to integrating roses into a garden with other plants instead of keeping them in a separate location in a bare, mulched rose bed. Well written text and good pictures.
Shame on the publisher, though, for such poor copyediting! Next time pay a good copyeditor or proofreader and spare yourself the embarrassment of roses "baring their hips" (bearing, perhaps?) and "while your nose is ravaging the blooms" (really? RAVAGING?) and miscellaneous omitted words.
Book Description
Three complete volumes in one: Masters of the Victory Garden, The New Victory Garden, and The Victory Garden Landscape Guide. Over 1,000 photographs, drawings, and diagrams on 880 pages. Companion to the nationally acclaimed public television series. Comprehensive instructions on growing a variety of flowers, vegetables, fruits, shrubs, and trees.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......1998-06-22
This book has something for every event in a garden. Planting, designing, what to grow and how to grow it. It is one of the most useful gardening books that I have on my shelf and use it often. In the winter its great to read and work out any previous season problems and plan for the new year.
Book Description
This sumptuous new Oxford Companion is devoted to gardens of every kind and the people and ideas involved in their making, in every part of the world where the designed landscape has played an important part. Its broad sweep makes this the perfect reference for garden-lovers everywhere. It combines a survey of the world's gardens, biographies of garden designers, nurserymen, and others, and entries on the worlds of horticulture and plantsmanship, with articles on a range of topics from garden visiting to garden elements and styles, and from scientific issues to the social history of gardens. The Companion provides comprehensive coverage in 1750 alphabetical entries, detailing all aspects of the garden from the ancient to the avant garde. The writing is authoritative and engaging, with careful attention paid to the correct naming of plants, and a central aim of giving a vivid impression of what it is like to be in these inspirational gardens. There are sumptuous colour photographs by some of the world's best garden photographers, and elegant engravings of historical subjects. Well over half of the entries are devoted to individual gardens, many of them open to the public.These include every kind of garden from palace gardens such as Versailles to private gardens of outstanding design or plant interest, public gardens, botanic gardens and arboreta, late 20th-century land art, and contemporary gardens everywhere. Central to the book are the garden cultures of Italy, Britain, France, China, Japan, and the USA - unquestionably the most significant in the world - but the geographical coverage is worldwide, including such far-flung regions as Turkey, Peru, and Bali. The Companion draws on some of the expertise from The Oxford Companion to Garden s (1986) - in particular the late Maggie Keswick's groundbreaking writing on Chinese gardens. The international team of advisory editors and contributors includes leading authorities and top garden writers from more than 25 countries around the world. Many of the entries include suggestions for further reading and the work's usefulness is further enhanced by a general bibliography, a thematic listing of contents, and an index of gardens, individuals, themes, and features.
Books:
- Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden (Modern Library Gardening)
- Growing Up: Transition to Adult Life for Students with Disabilities
- Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet
- His Princess: Love Letters from Your King (His Princess)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Plain Truth
- Drama Trauma: Specters of Race and Sexuality in Performance, Video and Art
- Essential Doctor Strange, Vol. 2
- History: Fiction or Science
- Nephilim and the Pyramid: Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse
- Lonely Planet France
- Benchmarking Strategies: A Tool for Profit Improvement
- From Knowledge Management to Strategic Competence: Measuring Technological, Market and Organizationa
- The Man in My Basement: A Novel
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening
All New Square Foot Gardening
Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Resource for Every Gardener
Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long
